It's nearly 2012!
by Rider Rules
Summary: Alex's first New Year's Eve with the Pleasures. But what happens when K-Unit turn up at the door? Just a quick oneshot for 2012!


**Hi! Just a one-shot about Alex's first, but slightly eventful New Year's Eve with the Pleasure family.**

Alex Rider had been living with the Pleasures for about 3 months, and it was now moving into the new year: 2012. Hopefully the world wouldn't end when the clock struck midnight...

All through the months Alex had been living with him, the Pleasures had been kind and accommodating. They had tried not to mention his old life or Jack. But quite frankly, it was beginning to annoy the ex-superspy; it was like that year of his life had never existed! It was like throwing the closest friend he had ever had, Jack, into the rubble. He could never forget... And for some strange reason, he didn't _want _to.

His new family seemed overprotective and suffocating. They'd always be trying to get him to talk more, to eat more, to play more. Ed and Liz would take him and Sabina to places Alex had no interest in, but he had to pretend he enjoyed the times; they _were _paying, after all. Truth be told, he didn't give a damn for fairs or aquariums or theme parks. Even Sabina didn't seem to understand...

* * *

><p><em>They had been at a big aquarium, which housed all kinds of creatures. Alex had tried to show interest in the fish, but to be frank, he had better things to do. Like finish off his English essay.<em>

_Then they came across the great white shark. Alex had managed to hide a shudder as he watched it circle menacingly in the tank, aggravated by the large crowds pressing their noses against the thick glass. It reminded him of the time he'd been attacked near the Devil's Chimney._

_Alex stopped to stare at the creature; when it was behind glass, you could really admire how truly magnificent the creature was. Despite his bad past with Great Whites, he became just as entranced as everyone else clustering round._

_Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sabina go over to her parents. He used his hearing skills- honed since he became a spy- to try and listen to the conversation as much as possible. When he glanced behind his shoulder almost imperceptibly, Sab looked anxious and was muttering to her Father._

"_Attacked... Great White...Upsetting..."_

_Alex narrowed his eyes, his only reaction to the extreme irritation he was feeling when Liz had gently led him away from the tank. Why did they always want him to forget his past? It was part of him._

* * *

><p>They were currently getting ready for the new year, Liz laying out a tablecloth, and Ed cooking some lamb in the kitchen. Sabina had gone to a girly party, so Alex was alone with the overprotective adoptive parents. Just great. He didn't mean to be hostile, but his life with Jack hadn't been so... Limiting. Alex could easily look after himself if he wanted to!<p>

The teen wandered aimlessly into the kitchen, where Edward immediately tried to engage him into conversation.

"Hey, Alex! How are you?" Alex shrugged, and Edward continued, looking slightly disappointed. "You excited about the New Year?"

"I doubt there'll be as much adrenaline as the last one." Edward's face darkened dramatically and he looked away, pretending not to hear, once again managing to make Alex so annoyed that his feelings were beyond description. _The past year of my life didn't just disappear! It happened! I lived through so much, and now you just want to completely disregard it!_

"So... Alex. Got any New Year's resolutions?"

"Take up Karate again." Edward sighed.

"Alex, you're being paranoid. No-one is going to attack you."

"I like it. And I'd rather be taught in a real class than learning off the internet." Edward's eyes widened at this.

"And we didn't even notice?" Alex looked him in the eye. He was talking a lot more than he ever had in the past three months. He just wanted to show his adopted parents-Liz was listening in from the front room- that he didn't want to be coddled anymore, to be stepped round carefully. He didn't want to be treated like he was going to shatter apart at the tiniest hint of intelligence agencies. _Jack would have been begging me to spill..._

"It would be a disgrace to call myself a spy if I can't even evade you guys." Liz came rushing in, and Edward looked so angry he might hit Alex. _Oh yeah? I'd like to see you try and win against me._

"Alex!" Yelled Liz, even though she was right next to him, "You're not a spy anymore!"

"Oh yeah? And what if I want to be?" At this point, Edward looked like he had been slapped across the face, and Liz like she was going to faint. Alex showed them more emotion than they'd ever seen from him before. "Maybe I'm so tired of being cushioned like some damn porcelain doll that I want to go out in the field! Maybe I'm tired of my past being treated as irrelevant! Maybe I just hate the way you seem to pretend that Jack never existed; that this life was the only one I ever had! I've had about just as much as I can take!"

Alex stormed off to the door.

* * *

><p>Alex pulled open the front door in a blind rage and banged into Sabina, who was waving goodbye to a departing car.<p>

"Oh, uh, sorry Sab, didn't see you there."

"It's alright." He stepped aside and motioned for her to go in. At that very moment, a familiar-looking black Sedan pulled up to the house. Sabina whipped around.

"Please tell me that's not the CIA!" She cried, "Come on, Alex if we ignore them for long enough, maybe they'll go away!" Alex looked over at her with a glint in his eye that she hadn't seen for a long time.

"What makes you think I want them to go away?"

* * *

><p>Surprisingly enough, the CIA had not come to ask Alex to go on a suicide mission. Instead they had brought him K-Unit- Minus the new member, add Fox. They were currently seated in the front room.<p>

"Cub!" Eagle shouted, obviously hyper, "Fox said you're a spy! Will you tell me all about your missions? Please?" Alex eyed the man sceptically, sighed, and looked over at Ben.

"Ben..." He groaned, "What _have _you guys been giving him?"

"I've had 3 cans of Coke and a huge bar of chocolate! And an ice-cream!"

"Nooo..." Alex wailed dramatically, "You have doomed us all!" All of K-Unit, apart from the pouting Eagle, burst into laughter as Alex gave a triumphant smile. The Pleasures watched this in obvious disbelief and maybe even some degree of horror. Sabina just looked plain intimidated.

"But come on, Cub," A Scottish accent belonging to Snake cut through the sniggers, "Spill!"

"Gladly," agreed Alex, and his 'family's' shock was clear to see.

* * *

><p>The ex-spy's stories were often met with cries of:<p>

"You did WH-AAAT?" or

"How the hell did you manage that?" or

"That is just plain awesome/wicked/brave/stupid!"

The reveal about Herod Sayle's true intentions had disheartened the Unit to learn that some who seemed so genuine could be so evil, and Snake had choked halfway through a glass of water when Alex had revealed he had been the 'terrorist' to parachute into the Science Museum:

"You SHOT the PRIME MINISTER?"

"It was only his finger..."

When they had been informed of the details of the Point Blanc mission, there had been an mutual agreement that Dr Grief was more insane than even _Eagle, _though Eagle had tried to prove that his sanity was still intact. Ben had just outright stared at Alex after the journey on the ironing board had been told, and even Eagle had informed Alex that he must have been severely concussed to go back into Point Blanc after he'd almost been dissected alive.

When recounting the Skeleton Key mission, Snake had looked like he was about to pass out when told about Conrad:

"How the hell was that man still alive? That's a miracle!"

"Oh yeah, it was such a miracle that he was alive so that he could spread so much joy by almost CRUSHING ME ALIVE!"

And no-one had ever ceased to marvel at how wrecked a man could get by the loss of a son.

Eagle, usually having no concern when people started looking uncomfortable, the poor ignorant soul that he was, kept pressing Alex for details on the Eagle Strike mission when Alex had skipped through most of it, noting Sabina's pale face. The man had been shut up by the simple fact that Cray's plan was called _Eagle _Strike.

Wolf had also been stunned that a teen had managed to survive a real-life version of Gameslayer; he'd played once on his nephew's console and immediately lost.

The rest of the missions had all been met with similar comments and actions, including Wolf becoming uneasy when the hot air balloon in the Scorpia encounter was mentioned, Fox remembering a photo of Alex doing the tightrope walking when he had to escape from the burning building Force Three had trapped him in, and also helping to tell parts of the Snakehead mission. And Eagle had claimed that Alex had deep-rooted a fear of crocodiles in him after Alex had told him of Desmond McCain's unique torture methods.

"Well! All done!" Chirped Alex. But Wolf had noticed something.

"Hang on, Cub. Didn't you say you'd gone on _nine_ missions? You've only recounted eight."

"I'd rather not talk about the most recent one. But I'll tell you this: The clone who was meant to have died in the fire killed the girl I was telling you about, Jack. Car bomb."

"Jeez, Cub. Sorry."

"S'Okay," he muttered. "So... Uh... Ready to start 2012 with a bang?"

* * *

><p>Everyone had eaten lots, drunk lots, and partied lots. Liz and Edward seemed to loosen their protective net a bit more, and Sabina seemed more like the girl Alex had known.<p>

And the next morning, four hung-over unitmates woke up in an alley with no recollection of how they had gotten there.

* * *

><p><strong>Happy 2012! Maybe not the start K-Unit had been expecting...<strong>


End file.
